Aa Ab Laut Chalen

I watched this as an Aishwarya fan. I think it's her 4th movie, so it's interesting for me to see her when she was "younger"--although that's only a few years ago! She looked really skinny--too skinny! In a couple of the songs, she does not even dance--what was the director thinking? That we don't want to see Aishwarya?? This was probably the worst Indian film I have seen in terms of the subtitles. First, they were in white letters, so they were hard to read. Second, they were often very stilted English--quite often humorous without intending to be. Third, sometimes they repeated the subtitles, sometimes they put on a long subtitle for .1 of a second. Fourth, sometimes they were just nonsense--A great example is when they go to the "Grapp Family Lodge" towards the end of the movie. Of course it's really the "Trapp Family Lodge" in New Hampshire, and yes, it's the lodge owned by the Trapp Family who were the subject of "The Sound of Music." I have a feeling all that was lost on the director--it would have been a great opportunity to have a song set in the hills above Salzburg, where Julie Andrews sang. It would have added a nice touch of humor. But no. Oh well, a great opportunity lost. Why not get a native Engish speaker to proofread the subtitles? Leaving the stereotypes aside, which the other reviewers have mentioned, I was more upset at the heavy-handed "lessons" in the movie. Yes, I have seen this in other Indian movies too, but not as many and not as awkwardly done. There was the "Pakistanis are really good Indians too" lesson, the "family is more important than money" lesson, the "women are more than tokens in the marriage market" lesson, the "forgive those as you wish to be forgiven" lesson, etc. etc.--every five minutes, and no subtlety at all. A movie can have a message, but when you have 35 different messages...well, it doesn't work. By the way, how about a lesson on illegal immigrants working on a tourist visa? To Indians sitting in India thinking they can just get off the plane on a tourist visa and start driving a cab or work at Dunkin' Donuts, forget it. You can't.

Reality checks: New Jersey boardwalk as an exotic, fun location? Please. Are there no hotels/rooms in New York? --why did Akshay and Aishwarya have no choice but to move in with the taxi drivers? Is India that disorganized that a millionaire would find it impossible to find the wife he left behind? And of course all the coincidences would make Dickens blush.

So, as a movie, pretty bad. As a showcase for a young (26?) Aishwarya, OK.

This was actually a suprisingly good film. Not astoundingly original, but compared to the usual formulaic trash that succeeds in north india this had a few new ideas. The main plus points are the visuals - aishwarya is stunning and the shooting localities are breathtaking. Songs aren't bad either - brilliantly picturized, especially 'Meri dil tera deewana'.

The movie as a whole was the standard fare with the story-line being as predictable as most India movies. I feel Akshaye Khanna's talent is being wasted by doing these kind of movies. He needs more intense role to prove to the audience that he can act and he not just there for his looks. Take for example the role in BORDER. That really was a demanding role as compared to the other run-of the-mill movies he is doing presently. I wish him all the best for the future.

This movie follows the previously tested theme - western society is "badly influencing" our traditional Indian culture.

The story picks up pace once Akshaye goes to USA,but fails to live to one's expectations in the last couple of reels.

Fantastic cinematography of New York & Perth, Australia. For once Ash Rai attempts to "act". NRI (Suman Raganathan) is a stunner!! Rajesh Khanna in his comeback role is heavily "made-up". Paresh Rawal is surprisingly "different". The music is a let-down, accept for the title track.

All in all, thanks to Rishi & RK banner for attempting a family entertainer.

Aa Ab Laut Chale is one of the most under appreciated films of the 1990's. The film really deserved to do much better business than it did, something I would attribute to some very poor marketing and release timing. Anyhow the film itself is quite entertaining and although as most Bollywood films it is bereft with cliches and an oft presented story line, it still succeeds in keeping the viewer interested and entertained. Rishi Kapoor in his directorial debut has done quite a competent job and I give him credit for not letting the film from becoming overly melodramatic as most such films from Bollywood. Almost all in the cast do a pretty competent job, although no one really stands out as brilliant. The music is quite good grows on you the more you listen to it. Rajesh Khanna in a non publicized 'sort of comeback' role, performs well but is hampered by a limited role. All in all it is one of the really better films of 1999.